Old habits do indeed die hard. Sooner or later one's true colors just burst out! Check out this poster from the youth of SYRIZA which aims at promoting some kind of gathering on Friday April 12, 2013. As you can see, it is a photo of a hooded male (and/or rebel) holding up a Kalishnakov rifle.
The poster has been receiving a lot of criticism on the blogshpere and for good reason, it more or less promotes violence and a very dangerous sort to say the least.
It also received very strong opposition from the New Democracy party. In an announcement, the ruling party said:
"SYRIZA, having armed the hands of those who attempted to torch their fellow citizens in Halkidiki, is now promoting a poster with a hooded man who is holding a Kalashnikov gun, thus endorsing its youth as a hub for criminals".
They are right.
What sort of message does one absorb from this type of a poster? Is this the type of democracy that the radical left is promoting?
For the love of God, young teens are exposed to this and it should sound an alarm to all their parents. It should also be banned by authorities because it openly promotes violence.
A wide-ranging investigation into possible tax evasion through offshore companies connected to Greek citizens has opened by order of the First Instance Court head prosecutor, Panagiota Fakou. The investigation was ordered following a publication last Thursday by Ta Nea newspaper of a global report by the International Consortium Of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
The report, "Secrecy For Sale: Inside The Global Offshore Money Maze" - drawing on 2.5 million secret files and described as perhaps "the largest cross border journalism collaboration in history" - had prompted a comment on the same day by Finance Ministry Secretary General for revenues Haris Theoharis, who said the ministry would examine the evidence and take appropriate action.
Most of the offshore companies of Greek interest included in these secret files are based in the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. The report revealed a total of 107 offshore firms owned by Greek interests, of which only 4 were listed in the country's tax registers - as required in the case of companies economically active or having property assets in Greece.
Of the other 103, 18 are associated with individuals who have listed their residence as being beyong the Attica prefecture. But 33 of the 107 list as shareholders or managers individuals who live within prefecture - in Kolonaki, Piraeus, Glyfada and the norther suburbs.
Individuals named are linked with law, shipping, maritime and construction offices, the food and information services, and a dance studio. (AMNA)
Four prominent members of the Euro-Atlantic Security Initiative (EASI) published an op-ed in the April 2, 2013 New York Times, warning of the increasing danger of nuclear war, and insisting on the urgent “Revamping of Euro-Atlantic Security.”
Contributed To HellasFrappe By
E.I.R. Strategic Alert www.eir.de
The EASI brings together a group of high-level military and political leaders from Europe, North America, and Russia, and is co-chaired by former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, who was chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee for many years, former Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, and former German Deputy Foreign Minister and current head of the Munich Security Conference Wolfgang Ischinger, who, together with former British Defense Secretary Des Browne, signed the NYT piece.
In Feb. 2012, the initiative had published the results of a two-year study on missile defense, which begins: “No issue is more urgent or central to achieving progress toward the goal of creating an inclusive Euro-Atlantic Security Community than making European missile defense a joint project of the United States, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and Russia.”
Unfortunately, during that year, the Obama Administration and NATO have escalated their policy of provocations toward Russia. Therefore, the four signers are sounding the alarm.
Security policies in the Euro-Atlantic region, they write, “are dangerously out of date and demand urgent attention.... Cold War-era security concepts and their associated weapons and military postures continue.
Large strategic nuclear forces remain deployed on prompt launch, ready to be fired in minutes; thousands of tactical nuclear weapons are still stockpiled in Europe; a decades-old missile defense debate remains stuck in neutral; and new security challenges associated with promptstrike forces, cybersecurity, and space remain contentious and inadequately addressed....
The alarming asymmetry between military capabilities and a true Euro-Atlantic partnership is dangerous and potentially destabilizing, undermining the trust necessary for cooperative efforts to meet emerging security threats in Europe and across the world.”
The EASI, they continue, believe “today’s leaders should move decisively and permanently toward a new security strategy, one that considers offensive and defensive military forces, nuclear and conventional weapons, and cybersecurity and space.
Thinking together about these issues in an integrated way can lead to transformational change in Euro-Atlantic security and nuclear and conventional force postures from the persistent Cold War shadow of mutually assured destruction to mutual security.
Issues relating to nuclear weapons and missile defense should receive the highest priority in the first five years. It should also be possible to take steps relating to conventional forces, cybersecurity and space during the initial phase.”
Beside the extreme security threat, the authors also mention the economic benefits of reducing arsenals at a time when the U.S. plans to build “new nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines and strategic bombers at a cost of more than $400 billion, and to extend the life of nuclear weapons deployed in Europe at a cost of $10 billion.” Russia reportedly plans to spend $61 billion to modernize its strategic nuclear forces, while the UK plans to replace the Trident at a cost of some $38 billion.
Their conclusion:
“There is an historic -- and fleeting -- opportunity to act. There is no more important security issue for leaders to address.”
Following his joint meeting at the international organisation's headquarters with the representatives of Greece and FYROM, UN Secretary General's personal envoy Matthew Nimetz announced that he delivered a new proposal both countries on the issue of the name. As Nimetz said, his proposal is going to be examined by the Athens and Skopje governments and he is expected, after the Orthodox Easter, to either visit the region or new meetings to be held in New York.
The History of Macedonia news site said that the proposal is "extremely close to the positions of FYROM Prime Minister Gruevski. The report which bases its information on a diplomatic source in New York, claims that Nimetz proposed a name that was submitted by Gruevski when he and former premier George Papandreou were holding similar talks several years ago.
(And if this is true, then expect only negative news folks. We have already tasted the aftereffects of George Papandreou's secret diplomacy and know automatically that if true, then this will not be in Greece's favor.).
President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias met with visiting Hellenic American Educational and Progressive Association (AHEPA) representatives and called on them to urge US businessmen to invest in Greece and boost the tourism sector.
Welcoming the delegation at the Presidential Mansion, Papoulias noted that "big progress" has been made by Greece, underlining that "a lot more can be done by the end of the year".
President Papoulias said early signs indicate that "this year will be a good year for Greek tourism" and referring to American tourists he added that "our American friends will find no other country to be more beautiful". He also referred to the important intervention made by US President Barack Obama, who called on Berlin to help Greece in these crucial times.
President Papoulias also thanked AHEPA for the assistance offered to fellow Greeks in need in a very tough period for Greece.
Later on the delegation was received by Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos. The Greek FM congratulated the AHEPA president, John Grossomanides, on the initiatives undertaken by the organization soon after the economic crisis erupted in Greece. Talks focused on AHEPA's contribution in the efforts to promote the comparative advantages of the Greek economy, attract foreign investors from the United States and Canada and boost the tourist flow from those countries.
The 19th Congress of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) opens on Thursday, with a presentation of the KKE Central Committee's recommendations by party leader Aleka Papariga.
According to an announcement by the KKE press office, the Congress follows four months of discussion of the pre-Congress texts with party organisations, the KKE's youth organisation KNE and thousands of working people, adding that the Central Committee's text of Positions and the party's new Program were approved in voting by 96.8 percent of the party's members, while the new party Constitution was approved by 97.3 percent of the members.
After more than two decades at the helm of the KKE, Aleka Papariga could be stepping down, a report in Kathimerini said earlier in the week. Sources apparently told the daily that she is contemplating not running for the post of general secretary at the party’s congress. Papariga had hinted at the possibility of stepping down in recent interviews with local media.
In March she told Kathimerini that it was up to the communist party’s congress to determine its next leadership. And she stated on MEGA channel at the beginning of 2013 that the KKE had developed a new generation of highly capable party officials.
At the congress, Papariga is expected to present the central commiittee’s suggestions regarding the party's duties, program and action until the next congress.
Great News. The 15 year-old Greek boy from Patras, who was airlifted to Hanover, Germany, for brain surgery, is now in the clear and recovering. In fact a report on ANT1's George Papadakis' morning talk show said on Thursday that the young boy even took his first steps (for a few seconds that is) on Wednesday.
The doctors at the German clinic apparently removed a cavernous angioma from the student's brain in an operation that could not be performed in Greece. Following a request by the health minister, the young patient was flown to Hanover on the prime minister's aircraft, to guarantee special cabin pressurization conditions during flight.
The young student has now been transferred to a regular ward and doctors believe he in about a month he will be ready for physical therapy.
It should be reminded that the story about this young boy made headlines after a group of senior high-school students in Demenika in Patra, western Greece, donated the money that they had collected for their annual school excursion to the the 15 year-old's family. And when a local businessman heard about the news and the generosity of these students, he donated the money to the high school students but they in return gave this amount to the boy's family as well.
(The annual excursion is the European equivalent of Prom Night, or Grad Night in N.America)
This inspired a mass effort from a lot of people and suddenly tens of thousands of euros were raised. With the help of the Greek state, the young boy was then flown to Germany and today he really has a shot at life.
Great story... Wish there were more of these every day.
Credit rating agency Standard & Poor`s revised the outlook on the long-term rating on Cyprus to stable from negative, saying that the immediate risk of a sovereign default has receded. At the same time, S&P affirmed the CCC/C' long- and short-term sovereign credit ratings on Cyprus, noting that that the program implementation and economic risks remain considerable.
"We expect the Cypriot government will agree to the terms of an up-to a 10 billion financial assistance program from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Stability Mechanism (ESM)" S&P said on Wednesday.
It is added that the program's first loan tranche will be disbursed in time for the government to make a June 4 payment due on a Eurobond.
Moreover, the ratings agency says it expects Cyprus to remain a member of the Eurozone, adding however the likelihood of recently-imposed capital controls to remain, in some form, in order to protect the country's banks from renewed deposit flight. (CNA)
Ten-year-old Lara Baneva, the abducted daughter of notorious Bulgarian cocaine kingpin Evelin Banev, is alive and well, according to a Bulgarian paper.
The Weekend tabloid has cited its police sources as saying that the kidnapped child was likely taken to Greece under a false identity. Lara Baneva was reportedly accompanied by a man and a woman pretending to be her parents.
The abductors are allegedly still waiting for ransom money.
Police experts have told Weekend that the perpetrators were extremely professional. The BMW vehicle they used in the abduction is yet to be discovered, the experts have pointed out.
Ten-year-old Lara Baneva was abducted by masked gunmen on March 5 in the affluent Sofia suburb of Boyana. Her bodyguard was shot twice but survived.
Rumors emerged that the girl was abducted in order to "keep her father silent" in an Italian court.
Evelin Banev aka Brendo is being held in prison in Milan, Italy, where he was extradited after his arrest in Bulgaria last spring in a special police operation codenamed "Cocaine Kings," and is coming to Bulgaria only for the court sessions of the local trial against him.
Banev’s former wife, Monika Dobrinova, recently stated that she cannot afford to pay a ransom for their daughter.
German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble believes that Greece should forget about the 162 billion Euros war claims, noting that this has already been settled, and that Athens should rather concentrate on reforms. In his opinion, it would be a waste of time for Greek authorities to even consider raising such a reparations claim. Oh Really Mr. Schaeuble?
"As regards the compensation claim [by Greece], I cannot see any hope because the issue was clarified some time ago," Schaeuble reportedly told the Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung newspaper.
Following the statements, Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos stated that the reforms being carried out in Greece bear no relation – and can bear no relation – to the issue of German reparations.
"What’s more, German reparations are an issue that the Greek state has been raising for many years now. Whether this case has been resolved or not is determined by international justice, given that, by its nature, this issue concerns international law and the international justice organs. Greece is not ‘losing its focus’ on the reform policy, despite the great sacrifices the Greek people are shouldering.”
Earlier this week, Avramopoulos officially forwarded the confidential report to Legal Council of State President Fokionas Georgakopoulos. The report was compiled by a General Accounting Office working group concerning files contained in Greece's archives relating to WW I and WWII war reparations claims. A foreign ministry announcement said that the file was forwarded to Georgakopoulos for legal evaluation, processing and to substantiate the Greek State's claims, asking him to submit an opinion.
Reports in the Greek press claim that the total amount is made up of 108 billion necessary to rebuild Greece's post-war economy and 54 billion Euros corresponding to a forced war-time loan to Germany.
"I consider such reports irresponsible," Schaeuble noted to the German local newspaper. "Much more important than being led down a wrong path would be for someone to direct them towards the road of reforms." "Greece has achieved a lot to this point, but has some way left to go. And it must not be distracted from this road."
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